We Were Heroes Once: Blood Diamond
by december.s-flower
Summary: After Shep goes missing, Thane finally find her. But she's not who she used to be. With only days left to live, she can't even remember her name. Will Thane be able to save her in time, or will he lose her forever? M for violence and sexual content
1. Prologue

**Summary: The Reapers have struck and are slowly but surely wiping the galaxy of all known life. Only one person stands between salvation and destruction. Problem is, that person has been missing for the past three years and everyone believes she is dead. Everyone except for Thane. Told from his point of view as he sets out to find Commander Shepard. A task more difficult than he anticipated. Sometimes it's easier to find a person lost among planets, but much harder to find someone lost in themselves. Sequel to '_We Were Heroes Once_'.**

* * *

_PROLOGUE_

"You would so readily give up on her? After all she has done for you?" Thane questioned, his frustration level rising rapidly. He has been at this for over an hour and the response was still the same.

"We cannot afford to waste any more resources on a ghost, Krios." the turian councilor announced. "You should know that by now. It's been three years. Give up."

Give up. It's what everyone has been telling him. But how could he knowing full well that she was still alive. Knowing that if it was the other way around, she would do the same for him. He sighed.

"I see now why she became so disillusioned."

"Whatever became of her was of her own doing."

"But who pushed her to it? Had you listened in the first place, so many lives could have been spared!"

"Do not lecture us on what we should and should not have done, Krios! We did what we had to after she went off the deep end!"

"I see it was useless of me to ask for your help, then. You -"

"Please, Mr. Krios, understand it from our point of view." the asari councilor implored. But Thane was done listening. His whole body was beginning to ache, never fully recovered from the surgery. As successful as it was, it rendered him incapable of close combat. He switched off the terminal and heavily sat in his chair. Three years, he mused to himself. How fast time flies. Three years since Shepard's disappearance. Three years since the Reaper attack. Three years of chaos and destruction. So many lives cut short.

Thane waited for a moment for his vision to adjust to the dark, then got up to check outside. Like many around him, he fled to the underground when the Reapers arrived. The Reapers. The timing could not have been coincidental. Despite being stonewalled and lied to, Thane had a pretty good idea of what was going on. The problem was, aside from her old crew, no one else believed him.

"How did it go?" a familiar voice filled his ears. Thane turned to face the intruder.

"How it always does." he replied, forcing a smile. "Were you able to find anything?"

"No." Liara replied. "It's like all my contacts suddenly decided to vanish. I'm sorry, Thane, but I just don't think you'll be able to find her again."

Coming from a friend, the words stung a lot more than coming from a hologram.

"Do you really believe she's dead?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I know Cerberus well enough to suspect they wouldn't let her off so easily. If they really did strike a deal with the Reapers, Shepard is either dead or we'll have to fight her at some point because they've turned her into some sort of monstrous machine."

"Perhaps you are right."

"But you still won't give up, will you?"

Thane leaned against the door way and closed his eyes, memories filling his mind.

"No, I will not." he replied.

"I thought so. Here, it may not be of any use to you, but I found this." she said, handing him a data pad. "It's an event invitation. I figured you're better at blending in than I am. Could be worth checking into."

Thane took the data pad from her hands and switched it on. The guest list was less than... savory. It consisted of the best of criminals and masterminds, on the only planet left unscarred.

"Where did you find this?" he asked.

"I've got quick hands." Liara smiled back. "Let me know if you need a ride."

"...Blood Diamond. I've heard of it. Getting in is impossible. Getting out is even harder."

"Nothing we can't fake. I can create an identity for you that will let you in. However, how you get out is up to you."

Thane stared at the blinking data pad, uncertain. But this was his only chance of finding out anything about Shepard. These were the worst kind of people, people she worked hard to put away. The kind of people Cerberus would not hesitate to collaborate with.

"I'll figure it out when the time comes."


	2. Initial Shock

**A/N: READER BE AWARE! As I'm sure I've mentioned before, the contents of this story may not be pleasant, at all. It is intended for mature audience only! You have been warned.**

* * *

_CHAPTER 1: Initial Shock_

"There it is. Blood Diamond. You sure about this?" Liara quietly asked.

"There is no turning back now." Thane answered. They were here, after all. Under the cover of the night, they had gotten fairly close to the club. The entrance was blocked by three burly looking guards in heavy armor and equipped with illegal weapons. Nothing he couldn't handle if he wasn't handicapped. Unfortunately, his condition kept him from taking risks.

"We need to find another way in." he suggested as another guard joined them, armed just as heavily.

"What? You don't trust me?" Liara replied in mock offense.

"Not you. Them."

"This is the only entrance."

"No, it isn't. They are criminals and criminals always have another way out."

"What's your plan, then?"

He didn't have one. Not this time. In the past, his work often involved infiltration and information gathering for a successful assassination. He also understood that this time was no different, minus a paid contract. But not knowing was part of the deal.

"Thane?" Liara prompted. "You're doing it again." Thane blinked momentarily and shook his head. He was getting into habit of answering questions in his mind, forgetting to voice them.

"We need more information." he said after a pause. "Tell me everything you know about this place. We're going back to the ship."

"But all the information we need, they may have inside. This may be our only chance."

Thane sighed. He knew Liara was right. He, once again, was not thinking clearly. Something of a regular occurrence as of late. The oppressing emptiness inside was getting the better of him and he shouldn't allow that.

"You are right." he conceded and was about to leave their hiding place when shouts rang through the night. Both him and Liara peeked over the edge of the rock to see what was causing the commotion. A guard was dragging out a barely dressed female asari out by her neck.

"You fucking bitch! I'll teach you to steal!" The back of the guard's hand connected with the asari's face, sending her flying into the coarse sand and dirt. Her cries and apologies echoed in the mountains. "You think you can get away with this, you whore?"

"Please! I didn't do it! I swear!" the asari pleaded, cowering on the ground as the guard pulled out a pistol. Next to him, Thane felt Liara tens up, her expression matching the outrage he felt. Holding her back, it was all he could do to keep himself in check. In his profession, he had come across many similar thugs, needlessly violent and overly confident. Most times, he ended their lives quickly. But he never witnessed someone so cruelly beating up on an innocent and helpless victim. A deep laughter filled the thick air as the guard forced the asari to strip all the way and make her run for her life.

The cruelty was appalling and unable to watch it progress, Thane crouched down behind the rock, pulling Liara down with him, as a shot rang through the night, followed by more laughter. He clenched his jaw, trying to control himself. In the distance, the killed yelled for the guards to go clean up the body and after several minutes of grunting and complaining, the night returned to silence as if nothing ever happened. Except the shot still rang in Thane's ears, the asari's face still fresh in his mind. The helplessness in her eyes, the dead soul behind them.

"I'm going in." he quietly stated. If he was right, which most often he was, slavers were involved in this business and from his personal experience, they often carried vital information on them.


	3. Underground

**A/N: Important update: Upon further review and based on all your reviews, I have decided to more or less rewrite the whole story. I understand that it was getting confusing as it was moving entirely too fast and getting mired in useless plot. I have lost sight of where the story was supposed to have gone and was more interested in putting out chapters than developing the relationship between Thane and Shepard. Essentially, I understand that people have lost interest in this. Because, honestly, so did I. So now, I will attempt to correct this and steer it in a more appropriate direction. I will be discarding many elements of the original while keeping some that I feel are important. Your reviews, of course, are always very helpful in keeping me on track. **

**Hopefully, you will give me one last chance. I hope you do.**

**For this chapter, I kept the beginning the same, but I will be taking things a bit slower.  
**

* * *

_CHAPTER 2: Underground_

"Thane, wait!" Liara stopped him, her slender fingers tightly curling around his wrist, pulling him back down. "I really don't think this is a good idea." Thane crouched down beside her and looked at her quizzically. He understood her concern. To witness such cruelty to your own kind was...painful and disconcerting. But if this was their only chance, he wasn't about to give it up to end up waiting another three years.

"Liara. I know what I'm doing." he reassured her, placing his hand on her shoulder. He was lying, of course. When it came down to it, Thane had no idea what he was doing because he had no idea what he would find inside. But that suited him fine. If only it would bring him closer to Shepard.

After a long pause, Liara looked up at him, her face riddled with worry.

"Please, be careful. These people-"

"Are dangerous. Yes. I know." Thane finished for her. He was quite aware of the risk. A knowledge that did not stop him. He couldn't possibly be more ready than he was now. But despite his projected confidence, the concern on his companion's face did not lessen. Thane sighed and leaned against the rock. "Let's go over my persona again." he suggested. A small look of appreciation crossed Liara's face as she herself sat close to him and pulled out a bunch of data pads from her bag.

"Alright. Let's start with your name."

o0o

"Ularik Donnes." Thane voiced with confidence as the name smoothly rolled off his tongue. The guards looked at him skeptically.

"Never heard of you." one of them said after a pause. Thane raised an eyebrow.

"Because all who have are either dead or permanently... mute." he replied in as casual a tone as he could, adding just a touch of insanity with a half smile. "So, you can let me in, or you can let me kill you. Your choice."

As much confidence as Thane had in his acting skills, the fact that he couldn't see their faces slightly unnerved him. In the past, when it came to armed and armored opponents, he preferred to take them out without a single word. Conversations were usually exchanged with people in fancy suits sipping on expensive champagnes. But as it turned out, brutes were easier to fool. The two guards looked at each other, punched something into the monitor by the door, then turned back to face him.

"Sorry, Mr. Ularik. We did not know you would be visiting!" one of them stammered out, pushing the other out of the way to let him in. Thane nodded in response and walked past them, glad that Liara's information checked out. He knew his body well enough to know that he would not have been able to fight them in such close proximity. Once inside, he lowered his hood as his eyes adjusted to the strobe lights. The deep music rhythms reverberated in his head from the lower levels and he searched out a staircase, locating it on the far side of the corridor. There he was met by another guard who let him in without question, likely warned by the guards at the front. The door opened and Thane was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol, tobacco, and sex.

It took a moment for his brain to process what his eyes saw. The atmosphere was dark, matching the music. The furniture, despite the devastation of the galaxy, was lavish, made of nothing but the finest velvet and leather. The walls were lined with doors, leading into private rooms. And at the center of it all was a circular stage displaying the 'merchandise'. Barely dressed females of all races writhed on the platform, trying to catch the attention of many surrounding customers. A familiar face flashed through Thane's mind as he remembered the asari shot outside the bar. Moments ago, she herself must have been up here, trying to make a living. Or at least just living. He quickly shoved the memory aside as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Firing up every instinct in his body, he swiftly turned around to face the intruder. In a place inhabited by world class criminals, being stabbed in the back was more common than anyone would have liked to admit. But when he turned around, it wasn't a criminal who stood before him.

Thane's career had taken him to many strange places and as such, full frontal nudity wasn't much of a shock to him. However, after so many years of being on the run and then have it in his face like this, it made him take a step back. An action that didn't seem to phase the asari that stood before him.

"Can I get you a seat, honey?" she smirked, moving closer, her body language making it evident that her intentions were more than just finding him a seat. "You've come on a very special night."

The statement managed to do what her assets couldn't. Get his attention.

"I got the invitation." Thane replied, thumbing the data pad in his pocket. "What's the surprise?"

"Oh, but I wouldn't want to ruin it for you! You'll just have to wait and see!" she smiled in what she must have thought was a seductive way, moving within an inch of his face. "Until then..."

Thane had to restrain himself from pushing the woman away as her fingers crawled under his clothing, reminding himself that she was only doing her job.

"I'm sure I'll be fine." he stated firmly, taking her wrists and removing them from his person. That offended her, but she didn't pursue.

"Fine." she replied crossly. "Suit yourself."

Straightening himself up, Thane took a seat at the bar and scanned the premises. Typical underground slave market bar. But no sign of Shepard. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be determined.

"What will it be?" the salarian bartender slurred.

"The strongest thing you got." First things first, Thane needed to loosen up. In places like this, information didn't come easy or cheap.


	4. Once Lost, Now Found

_CHAPTER 3: Once Lost, Now Found_

As the acidic bite of the alcohol warmed its way down his throat, Thane took a closer survey of his surroundings. For an underground location, no expenses were spared in its decoration. Clear thought went into the location of each artwork hanging on the walls, each placement of the wide velvet seat, all the tables were arranged in precise manner. Everything had a purpose. Whoever owned this place knew what they were doing. Someone of obvious intellect. Which, by the look of the crowd, thinned out Thane's suspects by a considerable amount. Bringing the tall glass of cool liquid closer to himself, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his head, listening.

Bits of conversations flowed into his brain, separating, fading, nothing of import. Most of it was laughter and animalistic grunts of pleasure with an occasional break of verbal abuse. At other times, he caught bits of conversation regarding the ever pressing Reaper invasion. These people seemed to have little concern for it. It's a wonder this place was still standing, but there it was, in all its debased glory. Thane let out a quiet sigh and returned to his drink, waiting for the special event.

"Buy me a drink?"

Thane heard the footsteps before he felt the touch on his shoulder as a female voice rang close to his ear. He knew even before she leaned over that it wasn't Shepard. He remembered the weight of her step well, the way they echoed on the metal panes of the Normandy, or muffled by the soft carpeting of Kahje's hallways. No. This wasn't her. This was someone else. Thane knew he shouldn't hope too much, but knowing that still hurt a little.

"What are you having?" he asked without looking up, biting back the pain.

"And here I thought drell had perfect memories. Old friends forgotten, eh?"

The statement gave Thane pause and it took him a fraction of a second to recall the familiarity of the voice.

"Old friends?" he repeated as the corner of his mouth quirked upwards sardonically. "As I recall, it was your information that got me nearly killed on the Prados assignment."

"You're still butthurt about that? Come on, Krios. Forgive and forget! I repaid you triple for that! And look at you! You got the Dantius job because of it! Which, let me remind you, got you the job with none other than Commander fucking Shepard herself!"

Thane cringed at the mention of Shepard, reminded of his failure to protect her and pressed harder to rectify his mistake.

"Why are you here, Ari?" he asked, taking another swig of the cheap alcohol and turning to face his old information broker. The years have been kind to her. She changed little, save for the vibrant multi colored mohawk and contact lenses. But that was her thing and it worked for her. It worked for him at one time, too. A long time ago.

"Oh, you know, the usual." she grinned in response. "Booze, sex, drugs, and a wealth of information."

"You haven't changed at all."

"And you changed too much. What brings your honorable ass down to a place like this?"

"I'm -" Thane hesitated. He trusted Ari. As much as anyone would trust a liar and a thief.

"Don't tell me. The mighty Krios has finally fallen? Are you here to bid?"

The smile that spread across Ari's face sickened Thane. The fact that she would even think him sunk so low sickened him even more.

"Is that what you think of me?" he retorted, clenching the glass to keep control. "And what do you mean 'bid'?"

"Oops, the secret's out!" Ari clapped her hand over her mouth in mock apology.

"Is this a slave market?" Thane demanded, unaware of his death grip on Ari's arm.

"Slave market is such a harsh term." she replied, removing his hand from her.

"Then what would you call taking a life and selling it for a cash value?"

"Fuck you. With all you have done, do not dare and judge me, Krios."

Thane's fingers tightened so much around the small glass that it shattered in his hand, sending glass flying across the table and the salarian bartender into a mad frenzy. Blood formed in rivulets around the glass digging into the palm of his hand but Thane felt no pain. Only rage. Civilizations were being destroyed and all these people could think of was trading precious life for a few credits? He was about to get up and leave when the lights suddenly dimmed, illuminating only the small stage in the center. The music stopped, the voices hushed and a single human male walked into the light.

"In these dark times, the world would have us call for mourning, for sacrifice, for kindness and empathy." he began, giving Thane pause. "It would have us give. It would have us die. And for what? For a _chance_ to live? I don't know about you, but I want more than a chance! I want certainty! And certainty is what we have here! And where is the rest of the world? The rest of the world is dead. So, let tonight be a night of selfishness and indulgence because ladies and gentlemen, do I have a surprise for you! You have all seen them, you have all touched and tasted them, and you have all loved them. Tonight, you will be able to own them!" A feeling Thane could not identify settled itself upon his chest, weighing him down. Grabbing the table ledge for support, he sat himself back down. At the back of his mind, he knew that nothing good would come of this. The bad feelings persisted.

"Be sure to stay until the very end because we have a very special guest for you today. One that you would not want to miss. Until then, let's begin with our lovely Aurelis."

A small asari female, barely in her second stage of life, walked out onto the stage. Wearing nothing, she was displayed like a prized piece of meat to be prodded and touched and sampled. The whole ordeal disgusted Thane and he turned away, unable to erase the face of the asari female from earlier. He wanted nothing more than to just walk out, burning this place down behind him, but something held him back and so he stayed put. Stayed put until the lights dimmed further and the announcer declared the last auction of the night. The one they've all been waiting for.

"For one night only, one of you lucky bastards can own, can do with as you please, the one that's touched all our lives, for better or for worse. We have all felt her wrath, been stung by her interventions, been ruined by her. But no woman is unbreakable, Commander or not. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you..."

The sinking feeling in Thane's chest was crushing him, leaving him short of breath and in pain. After all these years of hoping, of despair, he ended up here only to see it end this way? A death would have been kinder.

"Commander Shepard in the flesh! Let the bidding begin!"


	5. Failure

Shock.

It was the first thing Thane felt.

Complete and utter shock.

There she was, Shepard, right in front of his eyes. But it wasn't her. It couldn't be. The hair was off, the posture, the eyes. Nothing in there was Shepard. The woman that staggered from side to side as she was held up by one hand was not the same woman he had known and loved. But Thane knew that wasn't true. He saw the faint scarring around her wrists. The scarring she adamantly refused to get rid of. It was her penance, her reminder. Her perpetual pain.

And now this.

He couldn't look. The dead expression on Shepard's face...he couldn't bear it. Gone was the defiance and ferocity, replaced by nothingness. An empty shell of what used to inspire fear and loyalty.

Thane tried to get up and stumbled, catching himself on the table edge. His chest was constricting air flow, making it incredibly hard to breathe. The smoke filled room didn't help much, either. Suddenly, it felt smaller, more cramped. The stench was unbearable. He needed air. But more than that, he needed to forget what he had just seen. It felt like a horrible nightmare he couldn't wake up from.

Pushing past the jeering crowd, Thane stumbled his way to the exit, trying to hold back a violent cough erupting in his chest. The pain was overwhelming and it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. The base was pounding in his head and the room suddenly tilted to the right.

"Whoa! Watch it, man!" someone shouted at him, pushing him away, but Thane disregarded it. He barely heard it, barely felt it. The room was spinning and his body shook with the full blown cough attack. He had to get out. He couldn't save himself in this state, let alone Shepard. He needed help. He needed air. He needed to be able to stay on his feet...

"Aw, leaving already?" a more familiar voice resounded in his head. "But you haven't even placed a bid on your favorite commander!" A hand on Thane's shoulder made him pause, but it was only followed by a slap on the back and hysterical laughter.

Laughter.

It filled the room like a poisonous gas, voices blending together into one. His vision blurred, darkening at the edges as a single thought occurred to Thane.

He was drugged.

On purpose.

Someone here knew him, someone other than Ari. And that someone didn't want him interfering. Thane tried to remember who served him the drink, tried to remember what it tasted like, but nothing came. Regardless of that, he knew what it was. He had experienced it once before. An illegal drug developed by the batarians that inhibited the memory receptors while slowly poisoning the blood stream. No taste, no smell, and absolutely deadly. If he didn't get help soon, he was as good as dead.

Pushing past the pain in his chest and head, Thane broke through the guards and finally through the doors leading to outside. The chill air felt good against his flushed face but it wasn't good for him. He needed to sweat out the drug. The rapidly dropping temperatures would inhibit that.

Whoever drugged him knew he would go outside and knew he had a while to go before he could get any help.

The ground beneath him lurched abruptly, sending Thane to his knees as his body tried to reject the toxins. By this point, his whole body was shaking with pain and the sand by his hands was slowly darkening from the growing blood stain. As his vision completely darkened, the last thought that went through Thane's mind was his failure to save the woman that saved him so many times.


	6. Deeds of the Past

_No escape, no chance. They are everywhere. _

_"Find cover!" she shouts. _

_Panic. A foreign emotion. But it's too late. A blinding flash. Pain._

_Shepard!_

Thane's body lurched upward with his arm stretched outward. But there was nothing to grab onto. There was no blinding light, there were no scattered body part, there was no Shepard. And as Thane's mind cleared, the pain became more evident. His whole body ached and his head felt like it had been smashed against a wall with biotics, numerous times. Though none of this compared to the pain he felt in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back the incoming images.

"I'm sorry, siha..." he whispered, pushing the heels of his palms against his eyes. He had failed her. Again. He had failed himself. Pushing off the covers, Thane stumbled out of bed, grasping in the darkness for something to steady himself with. Where was he? The small confines felt unfamiliar. There was acidity in the air that made his nose wrinkle. He tried to squint to see if you could make anything out, but to no avail. Thane was alone in a small room with no window, no apparent weakness, no escape.

He was a prisoner.

Taking small, cautious steps he felt his way around the walls in search of any kind of door hatch. But he found no break in the rough texture. There was only one other option, having been stripped of all his possessions.

"Liara?" he whispered as quietly as he could, pressing his index finger against the hidden comm. All he received in reply was static. Thane tried again, but with the same result. One thing was clear, though. Whoever imprisoned him wanted him alive. The question was, for what purpose?

Feeling like there was no sense in wasting energy, Thane made his way back to the small bed and sat down. At this point, meditation was his only choice. The challenge, of course, lay in blocking the images he never wished to see again.

Shepard.

She had given him everything. Strength, courage. Life. She was there for him even when she didn't want to be. Nothing in the galaxy could ever possibly begin to repay for what she had done. But Thane knew that he would rather die than stop trying. He just needed to find a way out, first. As if on cue, the room filled with a hissing sound and it was suddenly flooded with light, temporarily blinding Thane.

"You're awake!" a familiar voice sounded from above. "Good! Saves me the trouble." It took a second for Thane to place the voice and the source. He couldn't find a door because there was none. Not on the walls, anyway. The only way in or out was through a hatch in the ceiling. It took a second more for him to adjust to the bright light, but Thane already had a good idea who his captor was. The stench of red sand and sex was unmistakable.

"I hope you haven't forgotten me, Krios." the turian grinned, now standing right in front of Thane. "After all, we have such history together! You and me, Krios! Oh!" the turian exclaimed, raising his clawed finger to his mouth in mock surprise. "I think I'm forgetting someone... Who is it, now? Ah yes!" he turned a sly grin on Thane. "Commander Shepard. How could I forget!" As much as Thane tried to remain composed, a flicker of anger flashed in his eyes, betraying him.

"Don't be shy, Krios. I know all about you and your association with the Commander. An assassin trying to atone for his sins by working with the savior of the galaxy herself. What a duo!"

"What do you want with her, Torik?" Thane growled. He remembered Torik from Illium. A notorious red sand dealer who specialized in selling asari, as well. Thane had brought his organization to its knees. In hindsight, he should have probably sent the turian to the afterlife, as well. Shame he wasn't the target.

"What's this?" Torik leaned forward inquisitively, his arms clasped behind his back, "Loyalty? From an assassin? Or... Ah... I see." A look crossed the turian's face that sent a shiver down Thane's back. "You have feelings for her. How special. And what would your dead wife say about that, hm? What was her name?"

If it wasn't for the sniper rifles trained on his vital organs, Thane would have snapped Torik's neck right then and there. But he needed to stay alive. For Shepard's sake.

"You do!" Torik pronounced gleefully. "How quaint! Does she know this? Should I bring her in? Reunite the lovebirds? Better yet, why don't I show you how delightful your Commander is in bed. If, of course, you have the credits for it! She's not cheap, you know!"

The rage that filled Thane was insurmountable. It took every ounce of his self control to keep himself seated and not rip out Torik's jugular. He knew what the turian was capable of, he had seen it firsthand. To imagine Shepard going through that, Thane couldn't bring himself to think about it. All he could do was clench his fists, focusing on the pain in his palms.

"Here," Torik pulled out a data pad and threw it beside Thane, "for your viewing pleasure." Nothing good would come of this, Thane knew it. "Oh," the turian paused before hopping on the small platform that brought him down, "there will be a quiz after you watch it. If you fail, you die."

Just like that, Thane was plunged back into darkness, only his rage and the glowing data pad to keep him company.


	7. Watch me, if you dare

CHAPTER 6: "Watch me, if you dare"

The soft glow of the datapad was deceiving. As Thane held it in his hands, it filled the room with sunset orange, faded away slowly into blackness, then back to orange. The standard "you have a new message" vocalization was turned off. To anyone else, it was just an ordinary data pad, but Thane knew of its more sinister intent. It glared at him, beckoning him. The turian's face flashed in his mind, sending a shiver down his back, though it had little to do with fear. Thane swore softly under his breath and tossed the cursed thing aside. He wasn't going to fall for it. He knew the game well enough. Psychological warfare was a tactic he was quite familiar with. He shivered again, pulling his knees up to his chest. A futile gesture, considering how cold his blood ran though it boiled with rage.

By now, Thane's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he was able to gather the last remaining details of his cell, though there was little to begin with. The walls were made of solid steel and the rust in the corners explained his difficulty in breathing. Other than the trap door above him, there was nothing else to go by. Not even sound. Torik, and whoever else he was involved with, was thorough.

Torik.

What kind of a sick game was the turian playing now? Thane had thought he dealt with him a long time ago. To run into him again, to be imprisoned by him, was a surprise he wasn't quite happy with. The most obvious motive, of course, was revenge. But Torik was all brawn and no brain. Someone else had to be pulling the strings. Who was the master puppeteer and what was their motive? Thane picked up the data pad again and touched the screen to wake it. But before he could do anything else, a crackle from a small intercom interrupted him. There was a cough as though someone was clearing their throat, followed by an unfamiliar voice.

"A mind is a curious thing, is it not, Mr. Krios? Especially that of a drell." It was a male voice. There was too much distortion to ascertain much else, but Thane could swear it sounded drell. "Take yours, for example. You probably suspect what is on that data pad. In fact, you may already know. And you may be right. The question is, of course, can you live with having seen it? After all, when a Drell remembers, he remembers forever. And let me tell you, Mr. Krios, some things you don't want in your head for the rest of your life." The speaker paused, caughed, then continued. "But then again, you could be wrong. Perhaps the information conained within that data pad is vital to your rescue of Ms. Shepard. Or, perhaps it tells you why you are where you are. Can you live with yourself having not seen it? Such a dillema!" A hollow laughter resounded in the small cell, but try as he might, Thane could not place the voice. His captor knew him, knew his name, knew of his purpose. Yet he knew nothing of his captor. One thing was clear, though. One of his questions was answered. The problem was, it brought to mind too many more. Who was this presumably Drell? What did he want with him? With Shepard? Why was he working with Torik, a nobody lowlife?

Too many questions. Not enough answers.

Thane touched the data pad and pausing only for a second, clicked on the message.

The message itself contained only a short phrase and a small video file.

"Watch me, if you dare."

The drell's voice echoed in Thane's head. _Can you live with yourself having seen it?_ Could he? Could he live having not? Two choices, a variable, and his captor's ability to play to guilt left Thane with little alternative. The answer was obvious and his captor knew him well enough to know it, too. Information, regardless of the price, was valuable. He didn't want to play into their hands, but he didn't have any other options. Putting personal feelings aside, Thane clicked on the video file.

The image that came up was in very low resolution and based on the surroundings, fairly dated. But also unfamiliar. There was a brief skirmish, some shouting, and then the video went black. This was certainly not what Thane expected. It was also pretty mcuh useless. It revealed nothing. It was only after playing the video over three more times that he noticed what was going on. It was brief and easily missed, but it was there. Right after the skirmish subsided and right before the video cut out, Thane saw a shadow flash by. A shadow without a body. His heart skipped a beat. Could it be...?


End file.
